Institute on Religion & Democracy

Institute on Religion & Democracy The Institute on Religion & Democracy is a faith-based alliance of Christians. Thank you for visiting!

We keep our readers in touch with the issues and our activities via www.TheIRD.org and Faith & Freedom, our quarterly magazine. In resources mailed to homes around the country, we address the issues from just war to denominational politics to same-sex marriage to immigration.

Catholic institutions are essentially religious communities, which must be able to control their “services, operations, ...
08/28/2026

Catholic institutions are essentially religious communities, which must be able to control their “services, operations, and personnel” by religious standards, writes Helen Alavaré, Professor Emerita of Law of the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University, and a member of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.

Catholic institutions are essentially religious communities, which must be able to control their “services, operations, and personnel” by religious standards.

What does it really mean when Scripture calls us to be holy as God is holy? In Good News Magazine, Jason E. Vickers expl...
08/27/2026

What does it really mean when Scripture calls us to be holy as God is holy? In Good News Magazine, Jason E. Vickers explores sanctification as both consecration and moral transformation, showing how the Holy Spirit uses Word, sacrament, prayer, fasting, and other means of grace to make us perfect in love.

Sanctification means more than being set apart for God. It is the Spirit’s gracious work of making us holy by conforming us to the perfect love, goodness, and purity of Jesus Christ.

“Indeed the mode of showing your courtesy may vary, as Christian prudence will direct. But the thing itself is due to al...
08/27/2026

“Indeed the mode of showing your courtesy may vary, as Christian prudence will direct. But the thing itself is due to all: the lowest and worst have a claim to our courtesy.” -John Wesley

Eighteenth-century British thinkers tied manners to religion, refusing to separate moral formation from outward behavior.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day shows what happens when Spider-Man misunderstands his responsibility. In doing so, it reveals ...
08/26/2026

Spider-Man: Brand New Day shows what happens when Spider-Man misunderstands his responsibility. In doing so, it reveals an important truth about the human person and our relationship with others.

It is in both sacrifice and revelation that we imitate Christ, who both gives of Himself physically unto death and reveals the Father to us.

WATCH: IRD's Mark Tooley chats with Regent University's William Reddinger about his new book Political Thinkers for Our ...
08/25/2026

WATCH: IRD's Mark Tooley chats with Regent University's William Reddinger about his new book Political Thinkers for Our Time, which explains the Anglo-American political tradition through prominent thinkers such as Edmund Burke, George Washington, Alexis de Tocqueville, Abraham Licoln, Friedrich Hayek and Wilhelm Röpke.

Regent University's William Reddinger shares on his new book Political Thinkers for Our Time, explaining the Anglo-American political tradition.

“What has become of us when the places of most potential are often met with the least interest because the mass of poten...
08/24/2026

“What has become of us when the places of most potential are often met with the least interest because the mass of potential is met by contrast of limited resources?” Asbury student and Anglican clergyman Andrew Irwin asks about ministering in an endless “winter” in Belfast.

Our institutions and structures might expect too little in the places of great need, but our God is still breathing new life into dry bones.

Forcing refugees back into Myanmar under current conditions would put them at serious risk and violate the international...
08/21/2026

Forcing refugees back into Myanmar under current conditions would put them at serious risk and violate the international rule against sending people to places where they face persecution.

In principle, Islamic teaching calls for care of the stranger. In practice that ideal collides with local politics, economics, numbers, and nationalism.

Sanctification is not something we accomplish through our own effort, but the gracious work of the Holy Spirit, who tran...
08/20/2026

Sanctification is not something we accomplish through our own effort, but the gracious work of the Holy Spirit, who transforms our hearts and empowers us to love God and our neighbors more fully, Asbury University's Suzanne Nicholson writes in Good News Magazine.

From creation to new creation, Scripture reveals a holy God who calls us to holy love—and faithfully gives us the grace and power to live it.

WATCH: IRD’s Mark Tooley joins former U.S. Rep. Jody Hice on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins to break down the recent...
08/20/2026

WATCH: IRD’s Mark Tooley joins former U.S. Rep. Jody Hice on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins to break down the recent film adaptation of The Odyssey and how, even amidst beautiful production and acting, it misrepresents pagan Greek culture.

IRD President Mark Tooley breaks down the movie release of The Odyssey, biblical worldview and pagan Greek Culture.

John Wesley’s theological vision didn’t begin nor end with himself, writes Ryan Danker. The argument should not be wheth...
08/19/2026

John Wesley’s theological vision didn’t begin nor end with himself, writes Ryan Danker. The argument should not be whether or not we look at Wesley or the theologians after Wesley, but rather how these figures help to connect us with the larger stream of Christian discourse that extends from Christ and the apostles, through the church fathers to the present.

Wesley’s theological vision didn’t begin nor end with himself. These figures help to connect us with the larger stream of Christian discourse that extends from Christ and the apostles, through the church fathers to the present.

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